Society and Our Children

I seem to have misplaced my mind tonight. Here it is after 1 am, I'm not feeling the least bit sleepy and my brain doesn't seem to be functioning. So, I bring to you something I wrote a week or so ago. I wrote it after watching the late night news and thought about the world in general and our society.

I stop and shake my head at this world we live in. What is considered news these days, the amount of damage and terror we humans inflict on each other, the importance placed on looks.

The last sometimes terrifies me. Girls grow up thinking they must be super skinny and look Hot or no one will like them. They develop eating disorders and a skewed sense of self. Is this truly the legacy we want to leave behind? For it is a legacy. Girls who grow into young women, they have children of their own and this sick cycle is passed to another generation.

I know there must be people like me who feel helpless in the face of such a huge problem. How do we end this? There are too many people willing to pay for those rags in the checkout line at the store. Greedy hands gleefully rubbing together willing to pay disgusting sums of money for a single picture. They may pay a million dollars for one photo, but I'm sure make double or triple that in return. Boycotting stars and the clothing industry are pointless. Not enough people will do it to make an impact. A letter writing campaign is senseless, whether by post or email. It's easy enough to throw away a letter or hit the delete button.

How could we impact the biggest criminal of all, the clothing industry? Stop buying clothes? That wouldn't work very well or for long. Our prudish society insists that we wear clothes. All models quit en masse in protest? That seems unlikely to ever happen. There are millions of young women willing to sacrifice themselves, and their health, on the altar of fame and fortune.

I wish I could say, "drum roll please......this is how we end this dilemma and save our girls!" No matter how much I think about it, the best I can come up with is to talk to them. Start very young and never stop. Talk more as puberty approaches and throughout the teen years. Tell them to be proud of who they are. Teach them to love themselves and their bodies. Never give in to peer pressure. This sounds like a huge job for parents, even more so for a single parent. I can say, from personal experience, it can be done.

I have two daughters, Flower, who's 19, is like me and naturally skinny. Patience, who's 15, has the build of her dad. Not saying that's a bad thing, and no, neither are fat. She already has womanly curves. *grins* It's her I was concerned for. I never wanted her to feel “fat” or somehow less than perfect because she doesn't wear a size 1. I have succeeded so far. She's very proud of who she is and what she looks like. Until things change, we'll have to try our best to raise our daughters with confidence and pride in themselves.

We must not forget our sons. They see the same things in society our girls do. They can grow up with eating disorders and body image issues as well. The same lessons must be taught to them also, only from a slightly different angle.

As parents, we are the front line in this war against the messages being sent to our children. We have the power to change things one child at a time.